Scaling for Success: Lessons for CTOs and Technology Leaders in High-Growth Companies

Congratulations! You have secured funding for the next phase of business growth - now you have the working capital to power your technology roadmap!

However, scaling a technology company after securing funding is both an exciting and daunting challenge. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, more than 80% of startups and scaleups fail due to obstacles around scaling their product. For CTOs and technology leaders, managing this rapid expansion while ensuring product and engineering excellence aligned to business goals requires strategic execution.

In this article, based on our experience with hundreds of customer projects and conversations with C-Suite Technology Leaders, we provide a practical guide to help you scale your business, overcome operational bottlenecks and build scalable engineering teams aligned to your business. Practical strategies are essential to navigate this complex landscape effectively.

The People Factor: The Hardest Scaling Challenge

Technical challenges often have clear solutions, but scaling teams and maintaining organisational culture is far more complex. One of the biggest challenges for CTOs in high-growth companies is hiring and retaining the right engineers and technology leaders. Beyond technical expertise, hiring for adaptability, problem-solving ability, and alignment with company culture is key.

As teams scale, maintaining a strong engineering culture becomes a leadership priority. Ensuring knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and clear technical direction requires structured onboarding, well-defined career paths, and leadership that nurtures both autonomy and alignment. A ‘brilliant jerk’—someone who delivers technical results but disrupts team morale—can be a major risk. Technology leaders must prioritise collaboration and psychological safety to sustain long-term success.

Read how we supported Spektrix with building a successful engineering culture through rapid growth. 

Measuring Engineering Performance & Maintaining Velocity

As an organisation grows, CTOs must implement frameworks to measure performance without stifling innovation. Engineering productivity should be evaluated using meaningful metrics—such as cycle time, deployment frequency, and defect rates—rather than simplistic output measures. Balancing speed and quality in product delivery is critical to sustaining growth.

During growth phases, the need for urgency, accountability, and high performance in scaling businesses is essential and establishing a culture where engineering teams embrace ownership, optimise for impact, and continuously improve can drive sustained success.

Take an in-depth look at the methods and frameworks Codurance recommends to measure software engineering productivity.  

Celebrating Wins & Managing Growing Pains

Scaling companies often focus on execution and problem-solving, but celebrating milestones is just as important. A high-performance engineering culture should include structured recognition for both individual and team achievements. Leaders should create a ‘buffet’ of celebratory moments, from regular informal team wins via kudos channels and employee experience platforms, to company-wide recognition events.

Equally important is transparency during challenges. CTOs should be proactive in communicating issues, whether technical debt, performance bottlenecks, or hiring gaps. Transparency builds trust across teams and with stakeholders, particularly when undergoing technical due diligence.

Scaling Across Markets: Navigating Technical and Regulatory Complexity

For scaleups expanding into new markets, CTOs must manage an evolving set of technical and operational challenges. Different regulatory requirements, data compliance laws, and infrastructure needs can impact technical strategy. Managing distributed teams across time zones and cultural differences further complicates scaling efforts. Leaders must establish clear frameworks for communication, decision-making, and technical governance to ensure alignment across global teams. Read how Codurance supported the modernisation of a global healthcare platform across 3 timezones and continents.

AI: A Value Driver, Not a Gimmick

AI and automation have become central to scaling businesses, but CTOs must approach AI adoption strategically. AI should not be implemented for its own sake—rather, it should address real business problems, such as improving engineering efficiency, automating repetitive processes, or enhancing customer experiences.

A common pitfall is overcommitting to AI on the product roadmap to satisfy stakeholders. Instead, ring-fence a small budget for AI experimentation while prioritising core business objectives. Investors recognise the value of AI, but they are more interested in clear, pragmatic implementations that enhance the company’s scalability and profitability. Read our eBook on Leveraging Data and AI for Business Impact.

The Exit Timeline: Preparing for Investor Scrutiny

Many CTOs assume a five-year exit plan, but in reality, execution of the strategy aligned to improving the product often compresses into three years. Private Equity firms and investors tend to focus more on commercial due diligence than deep technical audits. CTOs must ensure that the technology stack supports business growth, scalability, and operational efficiency. Having a clear vision of the product’s future state—and demonstrating its commercial viability—is key to attracting investment and acquisition interest. Learn about Codurance’s pre and post-acquisition assessments to support better decision making.

Building Stronger Engineering and Business Alignment

Scaling successfully is not just about growing the engineering function—it’s about forging strong relationships between technology and business teams. CTOs must be adept at communicating with non-technical stakeholders, including investors, sales leaders, and operational teams. Developing this cross-functional collaboration ensures technical decisions align with business strategy.

Encouraging engineers to engage directly with end-users and business teams also drives better product development. By connecting engineers with real-world challenges, teams can build solutions that address customer needs more effectively while maintaining motivation and a sense of impact. Read our client stories. 

Final Thoughts

For CTOs and technology leaders, scaling success is about people, processes, and strategic decision-making. From hiring the right engineers to integrating AI effectively and navigating global expansion, each decision shapes the company’s growth trajectory.

By leveraging insights from those who have navigated high-growth scaling before, CTOs can better prepare for the road ahead—balancing innovation with operational excellence to drive long-term success.